Jesus is Savior!

On Wednesday and Friday

of Easter Week,

the kiddos and I...

...got our hands dirty

while learning how

Jesus is Savior.

On Monday,

we focused on 

Jesus being King,

with the use of 

Adventures in Mommydom's

Easter Family Devotional .

On Wednesday,

we began discussing how

Jesus is the Savior-

for EVERYBODY.

(I decided to use Tricia's idea from 

Wednesday's devotional, but I used a different verse,

since I wanted to keep it simple for my little ones.)

We read John 3:16

and discussed how Jesus came to die

for everyone on Earth.

After seeing the craft for the day's devotional,

I remembered a post I had pinned on my

Bible Alive! Pinterest Board

that I thought would go beautifully

with the day's verse.

Brimful Curiosities

created a handprint Earth 

with her kiddos to remind them how God

sent his son for the entire world,

so I thought we would do this, too,

with a bit of tweaking...

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After the kiddos painting their hands green...

...to created the continents on their worlds...

...they pasted a John 3:16 scripture heart 

in its center.

(The idea of using a heart instead of a cross came from the

Easter Family Devotional Day 4 lesson.)

I created the heart in Word and printed it on pink paper-

you can download your own copy

by pressing HERE...

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On Friday,

we continued to explore the idea of

Jesus the Savior.

(I used Day 6 of the

Easter Family Devotional

for this lesson.)

We read Luke 23:26-49,

and then discussed

"The Legend of the Dogwood."

Looking to my 

Holy Easter Pinterest Board

for inspiration,

I used Catholic Icing's version of

"The Legend of the Dogwood"

by printing it off her blog and reading it

to the kiddos.

Then we created...

...Dogwood magnets using

Catholic Icing's tutorial.

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Usually i try to do so much more

with my kiddos leading up to Easter,

but this March was rough for us

due to the flu.

Therefore,

I am very, very thankful for all the bloggers

out there who share their creative ideas!

Without the inspiration of

Adventures in Mommydom,

Brimful Curiosities,

and 

Catholic Icing,

I do not think I could have pulled off

ANY Christ-centered activities this year.

You guys ROCK!!!

Jesus is King! (Palm Sunday Donkey Craft)

Yes,

Palm Sunday was a couple of weeks ago.

Yes,

Easter has come and gone.

But is there ever a time to 

NOT focus on the idea of 

Jesus as the King and the Savior?

I don't think so.

Therefore,

I am going ahead and posting about how my family used

Adventures in Mommydom's

Easter Family Devotional

as we prepared our hearts for Easter 2013.

(We only did the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday lessons,

so in this post I will be focusing on 

Monday's lesson...)

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After reading and discussing

Luke 19:28-40

with the kiddos,

I focused the kiddos on how the crowds proclaimed,

"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"

during his triumphant entry 

into Jerusalem.

"Jesus is King"

was the main idea I wanted them to take away

from this scripture passage.

Since Jesus rode a donkey 

into Jerusalem for his triumphant entry,

we used Tricia's idea and made

clothespin donkeys as a reminder that

Jesus is King.

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First...

...I used Tricia's donkey pattern

and traced it onto some brown cardstock.

(I wish I had some brown foam, but I didn't,

and the cardstock actually worked better than I thought

it would.)

To give each donkey a tail...

...I punched a hole in the cut out's back end.

Then...

...I took a long piece of brown yarn

and folded so I had four layers of yarn.

After pulling the yarn through the hole...

...and tying it...

...I trimmed the ends to finish up the tail.

(I gave each of the kiddos a cut out with a tail

already on it,

and they created the rest of the donkey's parts.)

After the tail was in place...

...we used Tricia's pattern as a guide

to draw on the donkey's facial features,

and glued on googly eyes

to give our donkeys some added dimension.

Using pre-cut pieces of yarn,

we then glues on manes

for each donkey.

Each donkey needed some type of

blanket for Jesus to sit on...

...which I pre-cut for the kiddos out of felt.

The kiddos glued on the felt pieces 

to "saddle" their donkeys,

which left the donkeys in need of just one last feature...

...legs!

The kiddos decorated the clothes pins

with markers...

...clipped them into place,

and the donkeys were ready for the King!

The kiddos had a good time creating the donkeys...

...and their final products were pretty Savior worthy,

in my humble opinion...  :0)

Next.

I will show you the crafts we created

to remember that

Jesus is our Savior...

"One Year Be-Tween You and God" Review and Give Away

My eldest daughter, 

aka "Jungle Girl,"

is a 10 year old on the brink

of her teenage years.

She is MOST DEFINITELY at the beginning

of that "between" stage of life-

one day she will be playing 

with her American Girl dolls,

and the next she is asking me

about getting an iPod Touch

so she can listen to her music while we school.

She IS a Tween.

******************************

When Tyndale Publishing gave me the opportunity

to review Sandra Byrd's

One Year Be-Tween You and God 

Devotional for Girls,

I was pretty excited.

This book seemed like the perfect way to 

transition Jungle Girl into

a personal time with God.

******************************

When I received the devotional

and showed it to Jungle Girl...

...she was immediately drawn to the

beautifully engraved leather-bound

cover.

******************************

She was ready to get started,

so she took it up to her room,

and decided to read one devotional each night

before she went to bed.

The devotional is set up in a yearly format,

with one page to go through per day.

Since we received this book in
the middle of October,
we decided it would be fine for Jungle Girl
to begin the devotionals in the
month of October.

The devotional is not so stringent
that a girl must begin the book
on January 1st.

******************************

Some of the topics the devotional addresses include:

*How Christianity is Different from Other Religions

*How to Talk to Others About God

*Mean Girls

*Taking Care of Myself

*Worries About My Family

*Why We Need to Say "I'm Sorry"

******************************

As a mother,
I would HIGHLY recommend this book
for girls in the 
9-14 year old range,
depending upon their maturity level.

Some 13 and 14 year old girls might find the topics
to simplistic for themselves,
and some 9 year old girls may be too challenged by it.

To get a sense of how the book
could work for your daughter,
just click HERE to read an excerpt. 

********************************

I also feel it is important that you get
a Tween's perspective on this book,
so I have asked Jungle Girl
to give me her opinion.

Here is her review,
in her own words:

"I like doing this devotional because
it is fun to look at.

It also asks and answers a lot of questions
I have about God.

I like it, A LOT, and I would recommend it
to other girls my age."

****************************

And now,
the FUN part!

I have been given permission 
by the publisher to give away one copy
of this book to one of my blog readers!

Woo-hoo!

All you have to do to enter is leave
me a comment below by
Wednesday, November 7th.

This would make a GREAT Christmas gift
for any Tween girl in your life,
so comment below!  :0)

*******************************

I received this book in exchange for my open and honest review
I was not compensated in any other way.

The Storms of Life...

Last Wednesday our country experienced
some of the worst storms it has
ever experienced in its history...

Hail storms- like I have NEVER seen-
ripped through my hometown
of Knoxville, TN,
leaving much destruction.

The family and I took a drive on Thursday evening
through one of the hardest hit areas of our town,
and we saw much damage...

Parking lots were full of battered windshields...

...and dinged up cars.

The leaves from trees were littered
all over the roads and parking lots,
making Spring look like a very green Fall...

Power lines, lamps and signs...

...were in need of great repair.

An old stained glass window
at the back of our church building...

...looked as if someone had beaten the panes
with a baseball bat.

Oh, and there were near misses...

...like this huge tree which had toppled over...

...thankfully only damaging its owner's yard,
and not his home.

***************************************************

As my husband, kiddos, and I surveyed all the damage,
we could not help be be grateful.

See, not only did physical storms tear through our town,
but an emotional storm is tearing at our own family right now...

*****************************************************

When my husband arrived home,
the evening of all the storms,
he informed me that he was "let go" from his job.

There had been no big warning signs from his boss-
in fact, quite the opposite.

He has always received pretty positive reviews
and bonuses throughout the 4 years he worked
at this company.

(Side Note: He is an accountant,
and I have a teaching degree.
Let's just say that the "timing" of his job loss
is not the best for either of us
to find a job.)

*******************************************

After we cried together,
and informed the kiddos about what
was going on......we all prayed.

And peace has seem to wash over us.

Sure we are nervous and a bit anxious about what
the future holds for us,
but we KNOW that God is with us,
every step of this unexpected journey.

Many questions remain to be answered,
but we KNOW that God will provide all of our needs...

*************************************************

Yes, the day after the storms let us evaluate the damage
that had been done,
but it also brought one of the
most BEAUTIFUL days
East Tennessee has ever seen...

(Do you see the content-looking face in the clouds?)

This scene in the sky from Thursday after the storms
brings me comfort...

And so do these words from Matthew 6:34:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Amen.

My Big Flop...

Well, it's almost over...

...and there is NO WAY I'm gonna finish.

STINK!

I really thought I was ready, but apparently
I WAS NOT.

I am putting this challenge on the "back burner"
and hope to complete it for myself one day...

Until then, I am gonna be trying...
...a little of THIS...
...and a little bit of THAT...

(And yes, the irony between these
two study guides is NOT lost on me...)

...and even more of THIS...

*********************************

...all the while praying daily
for the ability
to hear,
listen to,
and follow
at a full throttle pace
the
Lover of My Soul...

Bible Alive! Tuesday: Salty Salt, Part Two

A couple of weeks ago,
my Bible Alive! post featured a discussion
the kiddos and I had about
"being salt"...

Guess what?

This past week's Sunday School lesson
for my K/1st grade class was about
the Matthew 5:13-16 passage about
Being Salt and Light.

As a reminder of the lesson,
I had the kiddos make...

...Salt and Paint pictures.

Basically, the kiddos used tempera paints
to create a picture
and then sprinkle salt all over the wet paint.

****************************************************

So, without further adieu,
here is our
"Salt and Light"
art gallery...

**********************************************

I would love to know what y'all have done this week
to make the Bible come Alive!

Please link up below...

Bible Alive! Tuesday: Turning Lemons into Lemonade (or a Look at the Beattitudes)

In Sunday School this past week,
the kiddos and I discussed
"The Beatitudes."
(Matthew 5:1-12)

I really enjoyed how
Group's FaithWeaver Curriculum
(which we use regularly)
suggested I teach the scripture
to the kiddos...

******************************************

First...

...each of the kiddos...

...taste-tested...

...a slice...

...of lemon.

***********************************

Now, isn't a lemon slice
SUPPOSED to make a person
pucker and grimace?

Didn't affect my kiddos that way...

In fact, one of the boys ate
the entire slice by the end of the lesson!

***********************************

ANYWAYS,
the POINT of tasting the lemon
WAS to make a puckery, sour face...

...like these...

(My kiddos are so dramatic-
I just love it!)

After tasting the sour lemon...

...I let them sip some SWEET lemonade.

The results of this taste test?

Happy faces all around...

*****************************************

Now, as I discussed the Beatitudes with the kiddos,
I would talk about situations in life
that made them feel sour,
and they would taste the lemon slice again.

Then I would talk about how God wants us
to remember that our actions can please him
even when the situation is sour.

He wants us to take lemons
and make them into lemonade,
so to speak.

When we try our hardest to live as God instructs,
there will be a sweet reward for us
ultimately in heaven.

Every time I reminded the kiddos of this reward,
they would take a sip of their lemonade.

*******************************************

After the lemonade was gone,
the kiddos got to make a......"Lemonade Kit"......to remind them that their "sweet" actions......can please God......even when the situation is "sour."

*********************************************

Each of the kits included...

...a scoop of lemonade mix and an instruction card,
which the kiddos decorated.

I created the cards which you can download by clicking
HERE.

***************************************************

So, how have you been teaching you kiddos
about the Bible this week?

Please link up your ideas below...